DEFINING THE FUTURE OF BUSINESS: A GLOBAL VIEW

Technology, demographics, social and political change, economics. These are among the significant forces that are continually reshaping the world of business, locally and globally.

Poole College’s leadership team has taken strategic steps to provide our students multiple paths toward gaining the global perspective needed to successfully navigate in this dynamic marketplace. The results are evident throughout the college, from undergraduate studies to executive programs and faculty research.

STUDY ABROAD: EXPANDING OPTIONS FOR ALL POOLE STUDENTS

Since joining the International Partnership of Business Schools (IPBS) in 2009, our academic deans have been meeting quarterly with their counterparts at the eight other IPBS partner schools. In 2011, Ira Weiss, Poole College’s dean, was elected to a two-year term as president of the IPBS.

“Working closely with our IPBS partners helps assure that we are providing quality learning experiences designed with business students and their academic and career goals in mind,” Weiss said.

This relationship is resulting in new international dual-degree programs and international internship options that the college will be recruiting for in spring 2012. More than 200 students studied abroad in the past year through these and other programs at NC State and other institutions.

“To help students identify the best choice for their academic and career paths, we brought Robert Sandruck on board as director of international programs,” Weiss said. “Rob draws on his extensive experience in both student services and international academic programs to broaden the college’s international program and help students sort through their options while staying on track toward their degree requirements,” he said.

Cost is a factor that frequently comes up in Sandruck’s conversations with students. While Poole College’s students typically pay the same tuition for study abroad courses as they do for courses taken at NC State, some need assistance with travel and other expenses related to living in another country. That’s where donor support comes in. In the past year, the college provided scholarships to help these students achieve their goals.

GOING GLOBAL – WITHOUT LEAVING CAMPUS

Study abroad is a powerful way to gain a global perspective, but it’s not the only way. Dr. Shannon Davis, associate dean for undergraduate programs in the college, brings that message to incoming students during their first days of orientation.

“International is one of the three ‘I’s’ that we stress as essential for success in Poole College,” Davis said. “While we encourage students to participate in study abroad programs, the other two ‘I’s’ – Involvement and Internships – also provide opportunities for gaining an international perspective, as the following examples show.

Student Network Groups, part of Poole College’s Diversity, Professionalism and Academic Success class for all incoming undergraduate students, provide a means for new students to get involved on campus while also learning about other cultures through events held across NC State and in the Research Triangle community.

The dual-degree Hamilton Scholars Program, offered jointly by Poole College and NC State’s College of Humanities and Social Sciences, includes an international focus that does not require travel abroad. Poole College’s Hamilton Scholars also serve as mentors for foreign exchange students studying at the college for a semester or the year – an experience that enables both groups of students to learn about each others’ countries and cultures.

Poole College students also are among the NC State mentors networking with students enrolled in SKEMA, a French business school with its U.S. campus on NC State’s Centennial Campus.

International internships provide another way for students to learn about international business by working abroad. Johna Edmunds, undergraduate accounting major (2012) was selected last fall for a spring 2012 internship working at KPMG’s offices in Paris, France. Alex Martin, a Hamilton Scholar (2012) is continuing a 2011 summer internship with CISCO. One of his projects enabled him to explore the installation of technology systems in remote communities in Honduras. This follows a previous independent study project that he worked on as a Caldwell Fellow, providing marketing assistance to Beleza, a fair trade store in Raleigh, N.C., that sells artisan crafted goods from around the world.

GLOBAL AT THE GRADUATE LEVEL

The Jenkins graduate programs also have been expanding international opportunities for their students. “Studying business practices in other countries and experiencing other cultures builds confidence and provides essential skills that employers expect from today’s graduates,” said Dr. Steve Allen, associate dean for graduate programs and research.

• The Jenkins Master of Global Innovation Management (MGIM), a one-year dual degree program offered in collaboration with the Institut d’Administration des Entreprises at the Université Paul Cézanne in Aix, France, is now recruiting its third cohort of students. MGIM students complete their first semester at the French university, and their second semester at Poole College, and wrap up their program with an international summer internship. They also complete a practicum innovation project with an international company while in France, and with a U.S. company while in Raleigh.

• Jenkins Master of Accounting (MAC) students have been regular summer students at NC State’s Prague Institute in the Czech Republic, where they attend accounting courses taught by Poole College faculty. Last year, Poole College’s accounting faculty added a new option for Summer 2012, this time in France.

• Jenkins MBA students traveled to Shanghai and Hangzhou, China, during spring break in 2011, led by Dr. John McCreery, associate professor of supply chain and operations, and innovation management, studying macro-forces that have influenced China’s rise to global economic power and exploring the business challenges it faces in the future, including its evolution from a low cost producer of goods to a global provider of higher-end services and innovative solutions. Another MBA class went to Munich in May, led by Dr. Jonathan Bohlmann, associate professor of marketing.

• One of the Jenkins MBA concentrations – technology entrepreneurship commercialization (HiTEC) – itself has gone global. The concentration’s lead faculty, Dr. Ted Baker, associate professor of entrepreneurship, and HiTEC program director Roger Debo, received a $70,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Education to form TECnet, a collaborative network of universities, economic development organizations in Portugal (COTEC), Ireland and other countries, as well as other universities in the U.S., using the HITEC model. They wrapped up the project in summer 2011. This spring, the first IP commercialization project coming through this model was announced. Read more

• The Economics Graduate Program provides global diversity to the college by virtue of its highly international student body, which represented the U.S. and about 20 other countries. The doctoral students bring a global perspective to their research as well as the undergraduate economics courses that they teach in the college as part of their preparation for their teaching careers.

• The college’s Executive Programs also is expanding its global reach, both through its work with global companies and in partnership with international institutions. Dan McGurrin, director of Poole College’s Executive Programs, has developed week-long programs for scientists and engineers in an executive program at the University of San Paulo in Brazil; their sessions at Poole College are the Brazilian executive’s study abroad experience.

“I believe it is extremely important for business students today – at every level – to have multiple opportunities to learn about other cultures, to live in other cultures, and to interact with individuals from other cultures,” Weiss said.

The college’s faculty also benefits from the exchange of ideas and research with colleagues around the globe. In 2011, Poole College hosted a research workshop with faculty from NC State’s newly formed University Global Partnership Network institutions: NC State University; the University of Surrey, UK; and the University of São Paulo, Brazil. Individual faculty members also have ongoing research with colleagues at these and other universities around the world.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Robert Sandruck | Director of International Programs, Poole College of Management